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Photo Finish - Racetrack - Death Valley

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Taken on my first trip into Death Valley. These two rocks seemed like they were in something of a competition. They had roughly parallel tracks stretching thirty meters or more. Despite something of a size disadvantage I think the rock on the left won this sprint by a just a bit. I'd like to think they will take off on the next leg of their race when the next big storm hits.

 

Death Valley was practically empty in mid-November and the Racetrack was even more deserted. I spent an evening, night, and morning out here and saw only three other people. I have to say this is one of the most amazing places I've ever been. The feeling of quiet isolation was powerful. Walking all over the playa and checking out these rocks was really an amazing experience. I'm sure I'll be back to Death Valley again. I'm hooked.

 

As a photograph I guess I'd say I liked this composition better on the Camera. It seems a bit forced here on my computer. I contemplated cropping out the right rock entirely, but in the end decided to leave it since this was more my original intent. Plus, most photos I've noticed feature a single rock and track so I guess this is a little different in that regard.

 

Canon 7D

EF-S 10-22mm @ 10mm

15 sec @f10, ISO 100

Lee 0.9 & 0.6 Soft GND Filters

Cropped to cull a lot of the sky (not much going on up there)

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Uploaded on December 10, 2011
Taken on November 17, 2011